Impact Report
2022 July

Contents

A Word From Our CEO Taejun

4

Gojo’s Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles

6

A Word From MARUI GROUP

8

Our History

10

Our Group Companies

12

Our Impact in Numbers

14

Impact Framework

15

Our Clients

18

Stories From the Field

28

Our People

32

The Environment

35

Our Community

37

Our Investors

38

Our Governance Framework

41

Technology, Research, and Innovation

47

In Conclusion: 2022 and Beyond50

A Word From
Our CEO Taejun
The year 2021 was a challenging but fulfilling year for us.
We started the year with the news that the COVID-19 vaccine
had been invented, but we were not sure when it would beavailable for people in developing nations.
While many countries were locked down due to the pandemic,
the coup in Myanmar toppled the democratic government. I visitedthe country two months after the event and found that most of theareas were safe and peaceful. COVID-19 claimed many more deaths
than the coup per se. For a country where the government was
nonfunctional, the disease was literally a fatal blow to the people.
Although we don’t have the statistics, we have heard fromcolleagues in Myanmar that many crematoriums were full ofpeople carrying coffins.
The delta variant was rampant in India, especially from April to June
2021. However, when I visited India in late July, most economic
activities were back to normal. The visit made me confident about
the resilience of the country.
As we enter 2022, we already see worldwide inflation, boosted by
the war in Ukraine, contributing to Sri Lanka’s default. More bad news
could come in during the year.
Despite the challenging business environment, we started businessin Tajikistan and achieved one million group clients worldwide injust 7.5 years after the establishment of Gojo. As of March 2022,
we serve 1.2 million clients which translate to 6 million people1,
equivalent to the population of Denmark. We are grateful for what
we have achieved.

4 | Gojo Impact ReportOur R&D team, whose focus is on thinking about how to benefit
the lowest income households, started ‘financial diaries’ projects
in Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Among many other projects, they also
published a discussion paper on the “Fit Factor,” which proposeda new way of evaluating the impact created by financial institutions.
This year, as we start our Initial Public Offering (IPO) preparation,
we are putting impact measurement and social performance
management at the centre of our business. This is because the IPO
preparation process requires us to commit to even stricter financial
control and budgeting, and unless we drastically enhance our social
impact stance, mission drift could occur. To exemplify the overall
direction, I am going to obtain the SPI4 Auditor qualification, an
auditing licence for Universal Standards for Social and Environmental
Performance Management.
Some people are sceptical about whether for-profit companies
can generate genuine social impacts, but we want to prove that
we can overcome the trade-off between profit and impact throughcontinuous innovation. I hope for your unchanging support.
Please enjoy this year’s Impact Report.

1 As per CEOWORLD magazine (https://bit.ly/HouseholdSize2020), average size ofhousehold in 2020 is as follows: India 4.57, Cambodia 4.61, Tajikistan 5.99, Myanmar 4.22.
Given our clients tend to be low income who usually have larger household size, we haveestimated average of 5 household members per client.

A Word From Our CEO Taejun | 5

Some Gojo members at a recent
Board strategy offsite meeting /Gojo & Company

Gojo’s Vision, Mission,and Guiding Principles
Our Vision
To create a world where everyone can determine their future

Our Mission
To extend financial inclusion across the globe

Our Goal
To enable the provision of high-quality financial services to
100 million clients in 50 countries by 2030

6 | Gojo Impact ReportGuiding Principles
Our Guiding Principles are inspired by Greek philosophy, and centre on the trinity of
Truth, Ethics, and Aesthetics, together with the principle of Consistency. We reference
the Guiding Principles in all of Gojo’s policy documents and strive to follow them ineverything we do.

Truth:

Think and behave rightly

Ethics:Do nothing with which we cannot face our clients, family, and friends

Aesthetics:

Pursue the best quality, the best efficiency, and the best simplicity

Consistency:

Be consistent in what we believe, what we speak, and what we do

Gojo Values
Our name, “Gojo” (五常), comes from the 5 Confucian values of compassion, integrity,
courtesy, wisdom, and trust. We use a modern interpretation of the values to guide ourdecisions and day-to-day work.

Stand by our Clients
We strive to see things from the perspective of our end clients so that
our services support their goals.
Act on Principles
We are guided in all we do by our principles without exception.
Listen FirstWe always keep an open mind and uphold everyone’s right to beheard and respected.
Learn–Think–Share
We challenge the conventional, consider the practical, and share ourknowledge with others.
Be Genuine
We build trust and demonstrate our loyalty by telling the truth without
concern for appearances.

Gojo’s Vision, Mission, and Guiding Principles | 7

A Word FromMARUI GROUPMARUI GROUP has always been committed to

We were amazed at the response which far

extending financial inclusion to everyone, building

exceeded our expectations, and have gained

upon the founder’s philosophy of “credibility

confidence in the enthusiasm towards “Supportive

should be built together with customers”. Since

Investment” among our customers.

issuing Japan’s first credit card in 1960, we havebeen providing a wide range of financial services

We will further promote collaboration with Gojo &mainly to the younger generation.

Company to meet the needs of our customers for“Supportive Investment”. Through these initiatives,

In order to promote financial inclusion not only

we hope to enhance the relationship between

in Japan but also across the globe, we set ourpeople in developing countries and people ingoal to provide financial inclusion to more thanJapan, hoping they contribute to the fulfilment and

10 million people around the world by 2050, andwell-being of each and every individual involved.

have defined this in our long-term vision “VISION
2050”. To achieve this goal, we are investing in

We look forward to continuing and building our

Gojo & Company, which shares our philosophy ofpartnership with Gojo & Company.

“Co-Creation of Credibility”.
Hiroshi Aoi
Our investments are not pure financial

President and Representative Director

investments, but “Co-creation Investments”

Representative Executive Officer, CEO

for the purpose of collaboration. Therefore,

MARUI GROUP CO., LTD.

we have been working with Gojo & Company
to find ways to provide our customers with
opportunities to participate in financial inclusion
for developing countries.
After several years of consideration, this became
possible through a new fundraising method
called digital bonds. The digital bonds, which wecall “Supportive Investment”, were offered to our
individual customers. The bond reached the target
amount of 100 million JPY in just 3 hours.

8 | Gojo Impact ReportWomen selling fruits in Ima Market (mother’s market), a market run exclusively by women in Imphal, Manipur / Taejun Shin

A Word From MARUI GROUP | 9

Our History
2014

2016

2019

• Seed funding: USD 3mn• Reached 30,000 clients• Series C: USD 42mn

• Issued first impact report• Reached 500,000 clients• Sejaya obtained MFI license• MAXIMA and MIFIDA obtained• SATYA reached USD 150mn

Client Principles Certification

AUM, the fastest record(CPC)

in Asia• Established Gojo &Company, Inc.
• Invested in MAXIMA(Cambodia)

2017• Series A: USD 12mn
• Reached 50,000 clients• Invested in Aviom (India)

2021
2018

2015
• Reached 10,000 clients• Founded Sejaya (Sri Lanka)• Additional investments andconsolidation of SATYA• The Dai-ichi Life Insurance
Company invested in Gojo
• Series B: USD 19mn

• Invested in Loan Frame (India)• Transition of corporate
governance structure to“Companies with Three• Reached 200,000 clients

Committees”• Invested in Ananya (India)• Invested in Humo (Tajikistan)• Kick-started several DX projects• Founded Microfinance Delta
International (Myanmar)• Invested in SATYA (India)

2020• Invested in MyShubhLife (India)• Series D: USD 70mn
• Baillie Gifford Shin Nippon
invested in Gojo as firstinternational institutional investor

10 | Gojo Impact Report

Our History | 11

Our Group Companies 2
Date of investment

August 2014
MAXIMA Microfinance, Cambodia
9,174 clients
In Cambodia’s competitive and crowded microfinance market, MAXIMA stands out for
its rigorous credit assessment practices and its commitment to innovation. MAXIMA
is reaching underserved client segments by providing fast, small digital loans in rural
areas, enabling clients to access cash for emergencies or other short-term needs
without having to liquidate their assets.

February 2015
Sejaya Micro Credit, Sri Lanka
52,352 clients
Sejaya is providing income-generating loans to female clients in Sri Lanka. Sejaya
became one of only 4 licensed microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Sri Lanka, enabling
Sejaya to begin taking saving deposits from clients as collateral against existing loans.
Sejaya has since been planning the launch of its savings services to encourage
low-income people to move away from an overreliance on credit.

August 2015
Microfinance Delta International (MIFIDA), Myanmar
128,349 loan clients / 178,729 savings clientsMIFIDA provides microenterprise, education, and emergency loans as well as voluntarysavings for clients. Myanmar has had a more turbulent year than most other countries,
dealing with the impact of current political unrest as well as COVID-19. In addition
to providing support to clients and their communities during the pandemic, MIFIDA
has made strides in improving its digital infrastructure this year, working with Gojo todevelop a voluntary savings product.

February 2018
Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth, India
32 wholesale partners / 88,041 retail clients
Ananya provides wholesale lending and capacity-building support to MFIs, agrifinanceproviders, and other small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While Ananya continues toprovide support through MFI partners, they are in the middle of a transformation to shift
the business focus from wholesale to retail lending through business correspondents,and have grown rapidly to mark 88,041 retail clients this year.

2 The number of clients are as of end March 2022.

12 | Gojo Impact Report

July 2018
SATYA MicroCapital, India
873,163 clients
SATYA is one of the fastest growing MFIs in India’s microfinance history, serving
873,163 clients since establishment with a team of over 3,600 employees in just 5
years. SATYA provides group and individual loans, as well as loans for water, sanitationand hygiene (WASH) and energy. SATYA’s cashless repayment model proved valuable
during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they further demonstrated leadership throughtheir support of local communities affected by COVID-19.

August 2019
AVIOM India Housing Finance, India
31,992 clients
AVIOM’s mission is to help families in semi-urban areas realise their dream ofowning a home. They serve women borrowers who typically work in the informal
economy and might otherwise struggle to provide the documentation needed toobtain a loan. In addition to affordable home loans, AVIOM also provides financefor home upgrades and sanitation. Their sourcing model, AVIOM Shakti, provides
employment opportunities for rural women by enabling them to earn commissions
for referrals to AVIOM.

December 2019
Loan Frame Technologies, India
611 SME clients
Loan Frame is a supply chain finance platform serving the “missing middle” by aiming tobuild the largest SME lending marketplace in India. Loan Frame uses proprietary scoring
and risk assessment algorithms that process traditional and alternative data, and has
automated all major workflows to enable same-day loan disbursals. This year, they havestarted the SaaS vertical, which will licence the tech / platform they have built to small
community lenders, while continuously adding more lenders and anchor corporates.

September 2021
CSJC MDO Humo, Tajikistan
103,540 loan & remittance clients / 98,715 savings clients
Microcredit Deposit Organization “Humo” is one of the leading MFIs in Tajikistan.
Humo provides a wide range of financial services through accessible channels tothe population. Positioning itself as a fin-tech, the organisation places a tremendousemphasis on social aspects. To encompass all layers of the population, Humo
presents an opportunity to its clients to use a mobile wallet “Humo Online” withmobile banking features.

Our Group Companies | 13

Our Impact in Numbers
Our Clients

1.2 million
loan / remittance clients95%

female clients82%

rural clients

277,000
savings clients

6.7%

20%

85%

feel that they are resilient
to emergency3

accessing financefor the first time4

say they are satisfied withthe services provided5

Our People

33%
13
74%

female members

nationalities

say they aresatisfied at work

42

Gojo members

7,700
group
employees

3 Weighted average of client numbers for SATYA and Sejaya impact survey 2022. % of respondents who answered “easy” or “somewhat easy”
to the question “How difficult would it be for you to come up with 1 month worth of income in the next 30 days?”.
4 Weighted average of new client number for SATYA and MIFIDA.
5 Weighted average of client numbers for SATYA, Sejaya and Ananya’s client satisfaction survey (2021–2022).

14 | Gojo Impact ReportImpact Framework

Gojo aims to be the leading financial inclusion

Client impact and extending financial inclusion.

platform in the field of impact. We believe thatAt the same time, we focus on bringing positive

stakeholder impact is the responsibility of all theimpact to our People, Environment, Community,

companies in the Gojo Group. In order to create

and Investors.

long-term value, we are committed to maximising

Figure 1 – Gojo’s Theory of Change

Ensure sustainability

Environment
Neutralize harmLess harmLong term
profitability

Gojo GroupLong term
profitability

SupportInvestors
Funding

PeopleClientMaximized
ImpactGood service

SupportSupportEnsure sustainability

Community

Gojo’s Theory of Change (ToC) exhibits theare aligned with Gojo’s. In return for Gojo

process we go through to create stakeholder

receiving capital from the Investors, we ensure

impact and shows the causal effect eachlong term profitability and social impact creation

stakeholder has on all the others, which willon their behalf. The funds received from theeventually lead to our Group’s shared vision of

investors are then used to support the Gojo

financial inclusion for everyone. We raise funds

Group’s other stakeholders (for more information,from Investors whose vision, mission, and values

refer to “How We Translate Funds into Impact”).

Impact Framework | 15

Operational excellence by our People is what

Our materiality

makes the execution of Gojo’s strategy possible.

To create long term value for all of its stakeholders,

By encouraging their personal and professional

a company must carry out sustainable businessdevelopment, we strive to enable our People toactivities that incorporate economic, social, andprovide the best possible service to our Clients,

environmental perspectives into its decision-leading to more impact. At the same time, we track

making process. Gojo’s materiality defines ourenvironmental indicators to ensure that the Gojo

focus for all group companies to improve theGroup’s operations do not harm the Environment.

sustainability of operation and services, taking into

We also support our Clients’ local Communities

account expectations from various stakeholders.

by giving back through charity and pro-bono
activities, as a thriving Community is essential for

We developed our materiality map by first

our Clients’ well-being.

constructing a list of issues and prioritisingthem internally. We then obtained inputs fromAll of the work our stakeholders do, the impact

our stakeholders to determine the importancethey generate, and how we positively impact

and relevance of each topic to our businessthem will ultimately lead to maximised Clientand stakeholders. We finalised the map after

impact. In turn, our Clients provide us with profits

conducting a workshop and discussion with thethat will ensure our operational sustainability,

Board and the executive team. We have visualised

which guarantees Gojo Group’s ability to

the input from various stakeholders in theachieve our mission of extending financial

materiality map below.

inclusion across the globe.

More inportant

Figure 2 – Gojo Group’s materiality map6

C

Stakeholders

I

F
K

E

J

D

H

G

Less important

B

A

Less importantMore important

Management

A

Environmental impact through our activities

B

Environmental and social impact through ourclients’ activities

C

Impact on our community

D

Commitment to Client Protection Principles

E

Well-being of our clientsF

Health and safety of our employees

G

Happiness of our employees

H

Mission alignment

I

Risk management of environmental /social impact on our businessJ

Business adoption to environmental andsocial changes

K

Business ethics and corporate governance

6 We conducted a survey of key stakeholders from February 15 to April 13, 2022, in which respondents were asked to rate the materialityof each issue from 1 (relatively important) to 5 (significantly important). The graph’s x-axis and y-axis starts from the value 3. Respondents
include 3 Board members, 8 Executive Committee members, 12 External (investors, advisors, and NPOs), 6 Gojo members, 6 CEOs of groupcompanies, and 4 SPM leads of group.

16 | Gojo Impact ReportFigure 3 – Gojo Group’s materiality

Create a world where everyone can determine their future
through financial inclusion

Client Protection Principles• Fair treatment of clients

Employee Well-being• Avoid over-indebtedness• Satisfaction & happiness• Transparency• Health & safety• Client privacy & data security• Diversity & inclusion• Complaint resolution• Fair labour practices• Affordable & accessible product

Strong corporate governance + High level of integrity & business ethics as foundation• Non-tolerance stance towards fraud, corruption, harassment, discrimination, money laundering• Group corporate governance with transparency and accountability

Based on our materiality analysis, we concluded

Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere,that the Gojo Group should focus on following

Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth andthe Client Protection Principles and employee

Goal 10: Reduced inequalities.

well-being to maximise client impact and realise
our vision, based on a strong foundation of

At the same time, given (i) the different products

governance and business ethics.

offered by our group companies, (ii) the role
Gojo plays in supporting their governance andOur commitment to Sustainable Development

operations, and (iii) the fact that 95% of ourGoals (SDGs)

clients are female, our work also touches on

As a business whose core mission is to enable

Goal 5: Gender equality, Goal 6: Clean water andfinancially excluded people to overcome barriers

sanitation, Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy,

to building better futures, Gojo is committed toand Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions.

Impact Framework | 17

A Cambodian family raising livestock. The family
lives with the grandmother, which is common
practice in the country / Taejun Shin

Our Clients

Our client outreach
Gojo aims to empower our clients and their families with high-quality
tools to manage their money, enabling them to improve their lives
and livelihoods and to determine their own future.
As of March 2022, we have extended our loan products and services
to more than 1.2 million clients, catering mostly to female clients
who live in rural areas. The amount of loans disbursed has nearly
doubled from last year, with more than 600 million USD having been
disbursed. Furthermore, we have also broadened our geographicalscope to Tajikistan with Humo, the most recent addition to the Gojo
Group. We also found that our savings products have reached morethan 270 thousand clients, 40% of whose savings are voluntary (asopposed to being required as a condition for borrowing). The savings
amount deposited has nearly tripled to more than 22 million USD.

18 | Gojo Impact ReportWhile we are proud of the achievements we have made, we recognize
our clients are the relatively “better off” clients within the low-income
segment. As we grow and expand our impact, we aim to extend
financial inclusion to the ultra low-income households typically withdaily income per capita below 1.90 USD PPP (Purchasing Power
Parity adjusted), who are not served by for-profit financial institutions
and have little or no access to formal financial services. To do this,we strive to find innovative solutions to serve this lowest income
segment through our R&D activities. Our non-profit counterpart,
Gojo Foundation7, also tries to address this segment through grant
projects8. Our team continues to put our utmost effort into reaching
more individuals and generating greater impact.

Table 1 – Our client outreach
Product

KPI we track

As of March 2020

As of March 2021

As of March 2022

Loan

# of total loan /remittance client9574,471

711,474

1,219,106% of female clients10

99%

99%

95%

% of rural clients11

89%

87%

82%

% of clients accessing
finance for the first time

–

–

20%

Total loans disbursed(million USD)

244.4

326.5

620.0

# of total savings clients––

277,444% of voluntary savers

–

–

40%

Total savings amount(million USD)

4.8

7.3

22.3

Savings

7 https://gojofoundation.org/
8 Memorandum of Understanding has been executed between Gojo Foundation and Gojo & Company in order to avoid conflict of interest.
9 Excluding Ananya’s wholesale clients and Loan Frame SME clients. Out of Ananya’s retail business end clients, SATYA clients are excluded
to avoid double counting.
10 Excluding Ananya and Loan Frame clients.
11 Excluding Ananya, Loan Frame and Sejaya clients.

Our Clients | 19

Figure 4 – Number of loan / remittance clients (‘000)

1,219

4
2014

13

32

2015 2016

53

Cambodia
3.6%

Myanmar
3.7%

Sri Lanka
1.2%

Tajikistan
8.6%

708
521

Figure 5 – Asset Under Management by Country asof March 2022 (%; Total = 649 million USD)

574

India
82.9%

269

2017 2018 2019 2020

2021

2022

Translating our social mission into reality

Ananya conducted the SPI4 Audit in the second

Having a social mission is not the same thing

quarter of 2021 (July to Sept). They have an overall

as achieving it. At Gojo Group, we put socialscore of 75.6% which is close to the regional

performance management (SPM) at the centre of

average (South Asia average 75.8%).

our operations. With the implementation of SPM
in all parts of the organisation, we strive to ensure

Scores are especially high for Dimension 3that the company management and operations are(Design products that meet clients’ needs) andwell aligned with socially accepted values. Gojo

Dimension 4 (Treat clients responsibly).

encourages group companies to implement two
key initiatives to realise SPM — SPI4 Audit andAnanya can improve further on Dimension 1

Client Protection Certification.

(Define and monitor social goals) and Dimension
2 (Commitment to social goals). The majority

SPI4 Audit resultsof the gaps are related to documentation and

The SPI4 Audit is a social performance audit tool

standardisation of the process, as Ananya’s

provided by CERISE to help financial institutions

business size is relatively small and practice isachieve their social missions. Two members atvalued more than formality. On top of that, further

Gojo are now SPI Qualified Auditors, enablingboard and management attention to SPM will

the quality of the internal audit to improve byhelp promote SPM throughout Ananya. These

accompanying Gojo Group SPI4 Audits asgaps have already been addressed by adopting

external auditors. In 2021, Sejaya and Ananya havea formal SPM Policy and setting up the SPM /completed their first SPI4 Audit accompanied by

CSR Committee attended by the board andGojo’s SPI Qualified Auditors.

management. For further information, please refer12

to Ananya’s SPM Report13.

12 CERISE is a non-profit organisation dedicated to ethical and responsible finance, by providing social assessment tools to companies.
13 https://bit.ly/AnanyaSPMReport20 | Gojo Impact ReportAnanya SPI4 Audit Results (2021)

Global Average 68 %Overall Score

75.6%

Universal Standards Scores by Dimensions

South Asia Average 75.8 %Client Protection Principles Assessment
Appropriate Product
Design and Delivery

Define and monitor
social goals
Commitment tosocial goals

100%

53

Mechanisms
for Complaints
Resolution

61

60%
40%
20%

Design products thatmeet clients’ needs

89

Treat clients
responsibly

88

Treat employees
responsibly

86

Balance social andfinancial performance

Prevention of
Overindebtedness

80%

76

0%

Privacy ofClient Data

Fair and Respectful
Treatment of Clients

Transparency

Responsible
Pricing

The institution fully meets the indicator
The institution doesn’t meet all parts of the indicator
The institution doesn’t meet the indicator

Sejaya also conducted the SPI4 Audit in theAlso, there are some gaps in Dimension 4

second quarter of 2021 (July to Sept). The overall(Treat clients responsibly) which is critical asscore was 50% which was lower than the global

it demonstrates the level of Client Protection

and regional average.

Principles compliance.

The largest gaps were identified in Dimension

With a dedicated and passionate SPM lead,2 (Commitment to social goals) and Dimension

Sejaya has taken multiple actions to fill the gap

3 (Design products that meet clients’ needs). In

this year: (1) the definition of social goals and Key

Dimension 2, we identified a need to further train

Performance Indicators (KPIs), (2) setting up aemployees on SPM and put in place performancemonthly SPM Committee at the management level,

incentives based not only on financial but also(3) conducting SPM training for the managementsocial achievements. Dimension 3 results suggest

and also at all branches, (4) updating the leafletsthat the product development process needs to be

and passbooks to reinforce SPM in the field andformalised to ensure that new products take client

improve transparency to clients, (5) conducting

needs fully into account.

client satisfaction and impact surveys, and more.

Our Clients | 21

Sejaya SPI4 Audit Results (2021)

Global Average 68 %Overall Score

50%

Universal Standards Scores by Dimensions

Define and monitor
social goals
Commitment tosocial goals

South Asia Average 75.8 %Client Protection Principles Assessment
Appropriate Product
Design and Delivery

59
19

Design products thatmeet clients’ needs

100%

Mechanisms
for Complaints
Resolution

Prevention of
Overindebtedness

80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

29

Privacy ofClient Data

Treat clients
responsibly

64

Treat employees
responsibly

63

Balance social andfinancial performance

62

Transparency

Fair and Respectful
Treatment of Clients

Responsible
Pricing

The institution fully meets the indicator
The institution doesn’t meet all parts of the indicator
The institution doesn’t meet the indicator

Client Protection Certification
Amongst the various aspects of Universal
Standards of Social and Environmental Performance
Management (USSEPM), Gojo believes Dimension
4 representing the Client Protection Principles (CPP)
is the most important. To ensure compliance with
CPP, Gojo Group seeks third-party assessment andacquisition of Client Protection Certification (CPC)
as a result of the assessment. Amongst the groupcompanies, MAXIMA and MIFIDA have obtained
the CPC issued by the Smart Campaign. MAXIMA
successfully renewed the certification while MIFIDA
is about to close the audit soon. Other groupcompanies are also striving to obtain the CPC.
Client Protection Certification —MAXIMA and MIFIDA

22 | Gojo Impact ReportMaximising client satisfaction

97% of Sejaya’s clients think they want to

In order to understand how our clients perceive

recommend Sejaya’s services to others, and theour products and receive feedback from them,majority of them appreciate the low interest rates

Gojo Group conducts regular client satisfaction

and flexible repayment schedules that Sejaya

surveys. During 2021–2022, three of our groupoffers. It was also found that only a small number

companies — SATYA, Sejaya, and Ananya —of clients utilise Sejaya’s call centre, indicatingcompleted their annual assessments. We are

the need to further increase the awareness anddelighted to know that the majority of our clients

utilisation of the call centre.

are satisfied with our products and services.
Having surveyed a number of their B2B clients, it
84% of SATYA’s clients14 reported that they are

was found that Ananya’s client satisfaction scoresatisfied with their products. This response iswas 90%. The organisations they serve reported

supported by SATYA’s customer service, thethat Ananya has enabled them to strengthen

existence of a complaint submission platform,

systems and management as well as improve

speedy loan application processes, and the variety

product offerings. One improvement area forof loan products. At the same time, we found out

Ananya is in the post-disbursement processes.

that some of the clients are unfamiliar with theThis is mainly due to the fact that agri-based

cashless repayment process and SATYA should

enterprises lack the manpower to process allprovide further assistance.

the paperwork required post-disbursement.
Ananya can further consider how to improve theoperations to meet the needs of their clients.

Client Satisfaction Survey Results (2021–2022)

SATYA

SejayaAnanya

84%

97%

90%

14 The survey was conducted in five Satya branches in West Bengal.

Our Clients | 23

Gojo’s Client-Centric Framework

Earn andAccess tofinance(Inflow)

Spend(Outflow)

Money-management Needs(Households)

Business Needs(MSMEs)

Earning Capacity“I have the capacity and skills to earna decent income”

Revenue growth“I grow my revenues because I have accessto customers and market, and know
my customer needs”

Access to finance“I can borrow the amount or withdraw
savings I need instantly when I need it”

Necessities“I have enough to spend on life’s necessities(Food, Shelter, Clothes)”

Daily expenses“I have enough to run day-to-day operations(labor, inventories, utilities etc)”

Wants fulfilled“I have enough to spend on what I want,
not only what I need”

Larger expenses“I have enough to spend on expanding
my business”

Convenience“I can store money safely andconveniently”

Preserve(Save/Invest)& Protect

Access to finance“I have access to reliable financial services toborrow whenever business needs arise”

Savings“I can grow my savings to cover spending onlife goals and times of need”
Protection“I have enough to protect myself andmy family from life’s emergencies”

Know my money“I know my financial status and can manage
my money wisely”
Support dreams“I can support my family’s andmy own life wishes”

Manage &ControlStress free
“I don’t need to worry about my retirement or
my family after my death”

Liquidity“I have enough cash to get my businessthrough unexpected events.”
Investment“I can invest in tangible and intangible assets
for future growth”
Protection“Key business risks are insured”

Know my financials“I know my past financial statements andfuture projection”
Support dreams“I can achieve my company’s goals”
Stress free
“I can go to sleep peacefully withoutworrying about business”“I determine my own future”= Gojo’s mission where everyone can determine their own future

24 | Gojo Impact ReportOur Client-Centric Framework• 68% of the respondents said that the financial

Gojo’s Client-Centric Framework is a financial

decisions in their households were being

wellbeing framework that sets out the outcomestaken jointly with support from spouse or

we hope clients will be able to achieve throughother members. 18%, however, said that they

our services. It is a working document that we aim

had no or little say in the financial matters of

to update as we learn more about what successthe households.

looks like for our clients and our role in helping
them achieve it.

• 20% of respondents reported that they wouldfind mobilising funds very difficult. They will

Based on the targeted outcomes in the framework,

usually consider reaching out to friends andwe developed a standardised set of impact

families for a source of funds.

indicators, which we have implemented with ourgroup companies. We collect not only business• 15% of the respondents reported using a

KPIs but also data through impact surveys such as

public water source, meaning they needed tospending behaviours, resilience to emergencies

spend about one hour per day to collect water.

and sanitation environment. Our financial diaries

18% of them reported defecating in the open.

projects in Sri Lanka and Cambodia provides

SATYA can consider sanitation loans to be

granular data on day-to-day household cashflows.

offered to clients.

These rich information helps us understand thereality of our clients’ lives.

• The average distance of a health facility fromthe residence of the clients was reported to

SATYA impact survey results

be over six kilometres. SATYA can consider

SATYA conducted its first impact survey in January

organising health camps in the locations

2022. As the aim is to measure progress over time,

where the nearest health facility is far off orthis year’s impact survey will serve as a baseline.

is unreliable.

Having said that, there is already rich informationin the report which tells us about the lives of ourclients. Here are some highlights:• There is a high degree of appreciationof the importance of education among
the respondent households. Most of• Almost all households’ incomes were

the respondents expect children in theiradversely impacted by COVID-19. 24% of thehouseholds to complete graduate or

respondent households have not yet been able

postgraduate education.

to get their incomes back to pre-COVID-19
levels. It seems to be the case that householdswith two or more income sources are more
resilient and have managed to bring back theincome level to pre-COVID level.

Our Clients | 25

Sejaya impact survey results

to come up with 2 months’ worth of income for

For Sejaya, the overall finding is that theinvestment, let’s say to start a new business,

respondents are still experiencing difficulties withover the next 6 months. 65% of the respondents

money management. About two-thirds of thewere not able to buy everything they wanted or

respondents would find it hard to come up withneeded in the past month, and wished to spend

one month’s worth of additional income in the next

more money on house repairs, house building

7 days, meaning they are not so resilient against

and starting new businesses. It is not surprising

emergencies. In such cases, they would rely on

to see this result given the devastating situation ofrelatives and friends, rather than MFIs, which

Sri Lanka today. There is much room for Sejaya tosuggests that there is room for improvement insupport the clients in need of support, and we

our service offerings. The situation becomes

will measure how well this has been done in oureven more difficult when the respondents try

next impact survey.

Figure 6 – Sejaya clients’ difficulty level of coming up with emergency funds in a given time period,% of respondents (n=350)
1
1 month incomein 7 days

22

43

6

21

7

Slightly difficult

1
2 months incomein 6 months

44

32

7

13

Very difficult
Neither difficult/easy
Somewhat easy
Very easy3

No answer

Figure 7 – Sejaya clients’ sources of income to rely on for coming up with emergency funds,% of respondents (n=350)

in 7 days

14

2 months of income

19

Saving moneyin 6 months

13
16

Loan from MFIs
or banks

45
13

Borrow fromthe workplace

15
11

Pawning facility
Others1 month of income

37

Borrow from family

3

26 | Gojo Impact Report

13

Savings

are used for transactional purposes (linked with

Savings is important for financial inclusion. It

remittance services and plastic cards).

helps people “Preserve and Protect”, an outcome
promoted by our Client-Centric Framework. FromMIFIDA’s voluntary savings are opened by clients

this year, we have started tracking our savings

who wish to improve their creditworthiness withclients, and what impact savings is bringing on

the company, which is why the balance is small

our clients. The tracking will especially focus

and has a limited number of transactions. As aon voluntary savings — as this is closer to regular

general trend, people in Myanmar have shiftedsavings product as compared with compulsory

from savings accounts to cash savings kept in theirsavings (which serves more as collateral topremises (such as money hidden in their wardrobe

loan clients).

or converting cash into gold), since withdrawal ofmoney has become quite troublesome post coup.

With Humo newly joining the Gojo Group, theHowever this trend should change as the situation

overall savings amount tripled to 22 million USD,

improves in the country, and MIFIDA will push toof which voluntary savings account for 14 million

create more voluntary accounts. From April 2022,

USD. At Humo, they have two types of savings

compulsory savings accounts are converted toservices: 1) term deposits — which are often usedvoluntary savings accounts at the end of the loan

for large spendings (such as ceremonies or buying

term automatically if there is a certain savings

assets) and 2) ordinary savings products — whichbalance remaining.

Table 2 – Outreach and characteristics of our savings products (Data as of March 2022)
Humo

MIFIDA# of voluntary savings clients

59,84550,380Voluntary savings amount (USD)

11,007,742

2,896,678

Median voluntary savings balance
per client (USD)15

212

8.4

Median deposit amountper client (USD)15

109

12.8

Median withdrawal amountper client (USD)15

102

1.6

Median # of voluntary savings
transactions per clientn.a2% of active voluntarysavings accounts16

59%

n.a

15 Converted to USD using the market conversion rate as of Mar 31, 2022 (1 USD = 1,778 MMK and 1 USD = 12.96 TJS).
16 Active savings accounts are the total # of accounts minus accounts unused for 6 months or more.

Our Clients | 27

Stories From the Field

Jayshreeben Shah supports her family witha profitable retail business /Prayas Financial Services Ltd

Achieving a sustainable diversified income
Jayshreeben Shah is a married woman who

Over the five years since she joined Prayas, she

lives in a semi-urban location in Chandkheda,

has been able to purchase a home in her and her

Ahmedabad, Gujarat (India) with her husband,

husband’s names. She happily says that they havea brother and a sister. She is self-employed,

rented out that home and the monthly income has

trading clothes (dupattas, leggings, dress material/

proved to be a stable source of income for her

fabric, kurtis) from her home. She has been afamily. This increased income has also improved

client of Prayas, an Ananya partner MFI, for thetheir diet. She and her family now consume morelast 5 years and took her first loan to buy materials

milk and fruits. She has become a source offor her small, retail trade business. Asked about

motivation for other women in her community.

the problems she faced before taking the loan,
she said “Before taking the loan, I used to sell only

Jayshreeben actively participates in the decision-

dress materials, but after taking a loan of 50,000

making process in her household and has also

INR from Prayas, I added many new clothing items

reported increased confidence and self-esteem.

such as dupattas, leggings, and kurtis”.

She even aspires to buy a small shop andcontinue with her business there. When asked

She reported an increase in her business profit

about her capacity to cope with emergencies,

from 6,000–7,000 INR per month to 20,000–25,000

she responded that she now has enough savings

INR per month after taking the loan. She can now

and money at hand to survive even in difficult

fulfil all the orders of her customers by keeping

times or an emergency situation.

a healthy stock of 300 dupattas, up from 30
dupattas before taking the loan. With time, notonly her business has flourished, but also she has
inspired her husband to start a small, wholesale
clothes business.

Stories From the Field | 29

Kin Mach constructed a toilet for her homewith the loan she received, ensuring goodsanitation for her family /MAXIMA Microfinance Plc

Improving access to sanitation
Kin Mach and her family live in Preaek Kruos

Kin first heard about MAXIMA in 2019 from thevillage, a part of Kong Meas district in Kampong

credit officer who introduced the products andCham province, Cambodia. She is a rice soupservices of MAXIMA to her in the village. She took

seller, earning 200 USD per month. Hera loan of 600 USD to install a borehole well withhusband is a barber and their two children

a pump and construct a toilet. With these new

are garment workers.

amenities, she can open her shop early and earnan average additional 350 USD per month. Her

In order to collect enough water for the daily

children have more time to work and are healthierneeds of her family, Kin would wake up at 5 a.m,than before. They save the remaining income forgo to the market, and spend 30 minutes taking

the future to build a new house and a new shop.

the water from the lake for daily use and cooking
food — some for her children and some to be
sold. Her home is also not equipped with a toilet,
so she would walk far from home to defecate in
the forest instead. It is extremely difficult for her
family especially in the rainy season because
they are living in a flood-prone area with many
venomous snakes. She has spent a lot of moneyon healthcare every year.

30 | Gojo Impact ReportYogarasa Prabalini and her son.
Yogarasa used a loan from Sejaya torestart her poultry farm business /Sejaya Micro Credit Ltd

Rebuilding a successful businessYogarasa Prabalini of South Eruvil obtained a

She was able to participate in Sejaya’s promotionalgroup loan from Sejaya’s Kaluwanchikudy branchmeeting and was informed that Sejaya loan

to restart her poultry farm which was closed

officers will decide the loan amount based on her

down for one year due to a lack of working capital.

business operations, and will disburse the loan

Yogarasa has two children — nine and seven years

quickly. Because of that, Yogarasa decided toold — who are both studying at a government

obtain a loan from Sejaya.

school. There are four members in her family andher husband is a day labourer.

During the nine months after she received her
first loan, Yogarasa was able to earn an additional

Yogarasa faced financial difficulties in supporting

12,000 to 15,000 LKR a month in income. Onceher family and fulfilling their daily needs before

she has settled the first loan, she intends to obtain

restarting her poultry farm business. She obtained

another loan to further expand her business.

her first loan, which amounts to 100,000 LKR, andYogarasa plans to start a grocery shop in theutilised it to purchase chicks, feed, and medicine.

future with the objective of increasing her

She sells the chicken after 45 to 50 days, revolves

household income.

the capital around, and earns profit.

Stories From the Field | 31

Our People
Figure 8 – Number of employees of Gojo Group# of employees

7,657

5,275
3,501
1,906

499
2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

The people behind Gojo Group

create a diversified, enjoyable, and rewarding

Our people are the backbone of Gojo Group

work environment for our members to ensure

and the engine behind our fast growth. Since

their wellbeing. We track various KPIs of ourour establishment in 2014, Gojo Group continues

group companies related to diversity andto grow as more members join us in expanding

satisfaction levels to monitor the impact wefinancial inclusion worldwide. We strive tobring to our people.

Table 3 – Our impact on Gojo Group employees
No Impact webring

KPI wetrack

MAXIMA Sejaya

MIFIDA

SATYA

Ananya

AVIOM

Loan
Frame

Humo

1

Femaleratio –
Employees

18%

17%

60%

5%

42%

3%

23%

41%

Femaleratio –
Board

17%

25%

20%

25%

14%

20%

0%

14%

Employeesatisfaction
score

77%

–

–

89%

83%

–

–

94%

25%

37%

54%

26%

–

31%

13%18

2

Creatediversified
workplace

Provideenjoyable
andrewarding
workplace

Employee17%
attrition rate17

17 Calculated as number of employees left within a year divided by average # of employees at the beginning and end of the year.
18 Humo’s attrition is based on Sep 2021–Mar 2022 data.

32 | Gojo Impact Report

SATYA recognized as Great Place to WorkIn July 2021, SATYA was recognized as a

Utilising a framework called the Trust Index©,“Great Place to Work-Certified” organisation.

SATYA was evaluated on the framework’s five

The certification was issued by the Great Place

dimensions: Credibility, Respect, Fairness, Price,

to Work™ Institute, which surveys thousands

and Camaraderie. Out of the five dimensions,of businesses every year and evaluates their

SATYA has been identified as having relative

strengths based on the identified benchmarks.

strength in Fairness and Credibility in comparison

Based on surveys done to the employees,with India’s Top 100 — Best Companies to Workthe annual certification acknowledges SATYA as

For. This certification is a prestigious achievement

an organisation that creates a trustworthy andfor both SATYA and the Gojo, as we highly value

high-performing culture for their employees.

the people that work with us.

Gojo & Company: Nurturing a diverse workforce
Nationalities

France 1

China 2Germany 1

Taiwan 1

Poland 1

Japan 16

Azerbaijan 1
Stateless 1
Italy 1
Total 42
members

Singapore 1
Kenya 1

Myanmar 1
India 14

Gender13

Non-management
Members

20
1

Management
8
2
Board
4

FemaleMale

Our People | 33

Gojo aspires to build a diverse workforce where

several Culture Jam sessions, where everyone

people from different backgrounds can work

gathered to discuss different cultural aspects oftogether and contribute to our mission. We believe

Gojo, promoting mutual understanding amongst

that increased diversity in the workplace brings

members leading to better collaboration.

new perspectives on the way we work. We haveadded another female Director to the Board,

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic which

and our members’ overall female ratio is 33% thisgenerated a worldwide discussion about more

year. We represent 13 nationalities across theflexible ways of working, Gojo implemented a

globe, with Japan being the majority as it makes up

hybrid work model in which members get to38% of Gojo people. This is a major improvement,choose to either work from home or go to theas Japanese members made up 48% of Gojo

Tokyo office. As our workforce locations are quite

people last year. By expanding our recruiting

diversified with members not just in Japan but also

efforts, we have been continuously building a

in India, France, Germany, Singapore, Sri Lanka,

more international team where we could

UK, Myanmar, and more, it was not unusual for

promote innovation.

us to work in a remote setting when the global
pandemic hit. We strive to make sure everyone

Gojo believes in empowering our people, as

feels they are one team and connected to eachthey are the ones who drive our value creation toother. Working in a hybrid setting requires clear

clients. We track the satisfaction of our members

communication and mutual understanding. Gojo

by conducting semi-annual member satisfaction

established remote work guidelines to ensure this,surveys. For our 2021 first half member satisfaction

and also created an online approval tool based on

survey, 97% of Gojo members responded, which

the Table of Authorities so that decisions are madeis a higher response rate compared with thein an efficient and responsible manner, even in aprevious survey. Out of all the respondents, 74.2%

remote environment. While we value efficiency andagreed with the statement “I am happy at work”

productivity, togetherness is an important feature

and while 22.6% felt neutral about it. Respondents

of Gojo’s culture. We keep the team’s spirits up by

also mostly agreed with “Someone at work seems

having monthly team meetings and online cocktail

to care about me as a person”. Satisfaction levels

parties, where our members can interact and keepincreased in some other sections, such as “I havein touch with each other.

been able to maintain a work-life balance I want”,“I know what is expected of me at work”, and “I canlearn from my direct supervisor”.
However, there is still some room for improvement,
since overall satisfaction levels decreased
compared to the previous survey. Respondents
were less satisfied with company culture,especially in the cross-team collaboration at
Gojo. We are trying to improve on this by holding

34 | Gojo Impact ReportA farmer benefiting fromthe green finance loan by Humo /CJSC MDO Humo

The Environment
Towards a greener future

Gojo also understands that we need to manage

Gojo recognizes the ever increasing risk of climate

the impact of climate change on our business,change and believes that we must minimise

and our clients, who tend to be more vulnerable

negative impacts on the environment caused

and are hit harder by disasters caused by climate

not just by our own activities, but also by ourchange. Gojo Group supports our clients throughclients. As financial service providers, the amount

our products — for example, SATYA provides

of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission throughemergency loans which can cover natural

our operations is low compared with that ofcalamities like floods, cyclones, earthquakes

manufacturing industries, but Gojo has started

etc. on top of other emergencies such as

tracking GHG emissions for the group companies,

hospitalisation or major illness.

including the headquarters and the branches. To
manage the environmental impact by our clients’

Drastic environmental change is not just a risk,

activities, Gojo aims to apply the Environmental

but also an opportunity. Humo has partnered

and Social Policy across the group to ensure thewith Green Economy Financing Facility (GEFF)

environmental impact by our clients’ activities isto provide loan products which contribute towell managed. Ananya and MIFIDA has made athe usage reduction of energy, water and otherhead start in this initiative.

resources. Agricultural loans and housing loans

The Environment | 35

are provided on condition that the loan is used

So far, Humo has disbursed around 1 million USD

for purposes specified, aiming to reduce energyof these loans as of March 2022.

savings by at least 20%, water use by at least 20%
and reduce soil erosion by at least 20%.

Table 4 – Features of the agricultural loans under Humo and GEFF’s partnership
Type of Loan

Agriculture

Loan AmountUp to 500,000 TJS

Loan Term

Up to 36 months

Purpose• Laying of irrigation pipes (pipe diameter not less than 50 mm) and pumps;• Construction of greenhouses (area of greenhouses not less than 200 square metres);• Intensive and traditional gardens on the slopes;• Conduct a drip irrigation system;• Construction of cold storages;• Digging trenches;• Purchase of tractors, combines and other agricultural machinery;• Purchase of equipment for processing of agricultural products: meat, milk, cotton;• Buy solar fruit dryers;• For the collection and storage of rainwater

Conditions

Obtaining a certificate is mandatory before applying for a loan through the GEFF program

36 | Gojo Impact ReportOur Community

Gojo appreciates the fact that we can do business

SATYA has been conducting numerous

only when we are accepted by the communities

COVID-19 relief initiatives for their employees.

in which our clients live. By community, we mean

In order to support their employees, SATYA

the ecosystem around our operating areas — theprovided COVID-specific insurance, provided

village where the branch exists, the family members

medication kits, and held yoga and meditationand neighbours of our clients, and the businessclasses to mitigate their employees’ stress andpartners who support our day-to-day operation.

anxieties. All of these initiatives are in continuation

We are determined to provide support at times ofof SATYA’s community support initiatives in 2020,

hardships to the community and have conducted

including food drives, vaccination drives, andseveral initiatives to demonstrate our commitment.

medicine distribution.

In 2021, we have spent 62,000 USD across thegroup to support the community in need.
SATYA’s COVID-19 relief
As the malignant second wave of COVID-19
pandemic hit India with a terrific jolt in May
2021, people were desperately looking for aid —medical oxygen, medicine, hospital beds, food,and much more. SATYA stepped forward to help
those in need. SATYA started distribution drivesof COVID-19 preventive medicine kits, including
medicine, hand sanitizers, hand wash, face masks,and hand gloves. The kits have reached a total of
180+ operational branches of SATYA benefitting
more than 5,000 villages. SATYA also launched adigital Doctor-on-Call service that enables theirclients who need medical attention to receive
hassle-free telemedicine services. In coordination
with the government, SATYA played a critical rolein driving vaccination across the nation as well.

Our Community | 37

Our Investors

Operations
We work with group companies to improve

How we translate funds into impact

local operations, implement best practices,

As a holding company, a key focus of Gojo is raising funds fromand develop effective policies and processes.
If necessary, the Operations team also

investors aligned with our mission and channelling those funds into

facilitates turnarounds.

group companies to expand their reach and strengthen their impact.

Finance
We help group companies to find andnegotiate debt funding to support
their operations.

Funds raised

Due diligence

Capital injection

We conduct a rigorous due diligence

In 2021/2022, we invested $29.3

process with potential investees,

million in our group companies toincorporating the ALINUS indicators

expand their businesses and support

into our process. We focus particularly

their continued growth (the amount

We strengthened our governance byon their alignment with Gojo’s mission

include the minority investment inmoving toward a three-committee board

and ability to achieve both financial

MyShubhLife made in March 2022).

structure and formalising our processes

Governancefor monitoring and reviewing groupsustainability and social impact.

company’s business performance.

79% of Gojo’s investors said
their main reason for investing in
Gojo was alignment with Gojo’s
mission, vision and values, or thedesire to invest in social impact

Technology(as of March 2021).

We laid the foundations of Gojo’s
tech infrastructure, developing our

Recruitment and retention

Management support

We recruit world-class talent fromWe spent 7 million USD on Gojo’s

diverse backgrounds, and work to

operating costs this year, enabling us

create a supportive, principled

to provide management support toculture where everyone can be theirpartners according to their needs.

Digital Field Application and Data
Warehouse, and prototyping newcustomer-oriented solutions.

best selves.

Impact measurement andSocial Performance Management
We identified impact measurement leads ateach partner and implemented data collection
for a core set of outcome indicators tied to ourown financial well-being framework.

38 | Gojo Impact Report

Our Investors | 39

Innovative ways of raising funds

Gojo’s debt financing supports to group

For inclusive financial service providers in low-companies

income countries, expensive funding cost is one

Gojo offers various debt instruments to groupof the major challenges. Establishing a sustainable

companies to support their debt financing, whichmechanism to channel the funds from developed

includes intercompany loans and numerous types

countries including US, Europe and Japan toof credit guarantees. Over the course of 2021,

people who need access to affordable financial

credit guarantees were extended to secure firstservices in emerging countries is one of the mosttime lenders which benefited from extra comfort

important roles that Gojo plays. In 2021–2022, wefrom Gojo, and to support group companies

made significant progress in expanding the debt

to secure debt financing under the economy

funding sources, from institutional to individual

impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

investors especially from Japan.
Gojo has also been working closely with bothDiversification of debt financing sources in

multinational and bilateral Development FinanceJapan

Institutions (“DFIs”) and International Impact• Issuance of a private placement bond throughLenders who play an invaluable role in developing

online platform “Siiibo”, operated by Siiibo

financial markets and strengthening financial

Securities Co., Ltd. (August 2021)

service providers that serve low-income markets.
The relationships thrived and turned into strategic• Launch debt funds “Gojo & Company

partnerships with selected DFIs and International

Microfinance Fund” on the online platform

Impact Lenders, securing the larger committed“Funds”, operated by Funds, Inc. to raiseamount to support the Gojo Group’s staggering

debt funds from retail investors in Japan

growth. Together, we make collective progress for(February 2022)

greater financial inclusion.

• Execution of bond issuance agreement with

Gojo continues to work on optimising funding cost

MARUI GROUP CO., LTD. as use of proceeds

by pursuing global scale and risk diversification,of its Social Bond with a second-party opinion

building strong relationships with Japanesefrom Morningstar Sustainalytics issued

financial institutions and individual investors, andto Japanese retail investors including its

diversifying financing methods.

customers19 (April 2022)• Execution of social loan agreement with
Shizuoka Bank, Ltd. which was rated as Social
1 (highest social rating) by Japan Credit Rating
Agency, Ltd.20 (June 2022)

19 https://bit.ly/MaruiSocialBond
20 https://bit.ly/SocialLoanRating

40 | Gojo Impact ReportOur Governance Framework
Gojo considers corporate governance the

In 2021, we successfully transitioned to the new

foundation which will enable us to achieve our

Board structure based on the three statutory

vision, mission, and 2030 goal. It is a framework tocommittees model, with one additional advisory

help us carefully monitor the implementation of ourcommittee called the Impact Committee, inmanagement principles and five values, collectively

charge of stakeholder impact management withknown as the Guiding Principles. Therefore, sincea focus on client impact. We have also appointed

our establishment, Gojo has adopted additional

Milena Nikolova as a new Outside Director who

efforts into corporate governance, beyond thehas over 20 years of finance experience spanningstatutory requirements of the Japanese Corporate

investment banking, wealth management, ventureAct. We are committed to continuing our pursuit ofcapital investing, and startup advisory.

the highest standards of corporate governance.

Table 5 – Corporate Governance System (as of March 2022)
Type of system

Three Board Committees:• Nomination Committee• Remuneration and Talent Committee• Audit Committee

Number of Directors

6 (5 of whom are Outside Directors)

Number of Executive Officers

2 (CEO, Managing Partner)

Term of office for all Directors

1 yearManagement Committees

Gojo has 2 internal Management Committees:•E xecutive Committee deliberates on company-wide management policy
and important issues• I nvestment Committee deliberates on new and additional investment
decisions for group companies

Advisory committees tothe Board of Directors

The Impact Committee is established to assist the board such that it always
takes into account clients and other stakeholders’ interests in Gojo’s decision
making. The Impact Committee also supports and monitors the activities of
the Impact Measurement and R&D departments.

Independent external auditor

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC

Our Governance Framework | 41

Overview of Gojo’s Corporate Governance and Internal Control System

General Meeting of Shareholders

Directors’ nominationand dismissal

Investment
decision

Supervision

Board

Management

Board of Directors

Nomination
Committee

Investment
Committee

Chair / CEO
Remuneration& Talent
Committee

OutsideDirectors

CEO
MP*

Group
Companies

Audit
Committee

Appointment
and dismissal

AdviceExecutive
Committee

ReportSupervision

Audit

Supervision

ReportAdviceAdviceImpact Committee

Accounting Auditor
Collaboration
Director & Executive Officer
Outside Director*MP = Managing Partner

42 | Gojo Impact Report

Gojo’s Internal
AuditGroup Company’s
Internal Audit
Collaboration

Table 6 – Role of the Board and Board Committees

Name

Composition

Primary role

Board of Directors

1: CEO & Director
5: Outside Directors

The Board’s role is to act in Gojo’s best interests and add
value to Gojo on behalf of the shareholders and all otherstakeholders. The Board monitors the deployment of
resources and capacity, checking that it is done in the mosteffective manner. They do this through policy formulation,
strategic guidance and performance monitoring, andoversight of management. The Board also ensures that Gojo
does not deviate from its Guiding Principles.

Nomination
Committee

1: CEO & Director
4: Outside Directors

The Nomination Committee is responsible for nominating
Director candidates and recommending Executive
Officer candidates to the Board in order to support Gojo’s
strategic objectives. The Committee also conducts
Board effectiveness evaluations.

Remuneration
and TalentCommittee

3: Outside Directors

The Remuneration and Talent Committee is responsible fordetermining the individual remuneration of Directors andExecutive Officers. The Committee also looks after the overall
HR policies and strategies.

Audit Committee

4: Outside Directors

The Audit Committee is responsible for ensuring thecontinued independence of the accounting auditor,
overseeing the accounting audit process, reviewing theexpertise, resources, and experience of Gojo’s financefunction, and overseeing Gojo’s internal audit function,internal controls, financial reporting, and risk assessment
management.

Impact Committee

1: CEO & Director
3: Outside Directors

The Impact Committee focuses on whether and how Gojo
improves clients’ lives and pursues stakeholder impact. The
Committee assists the Board in making the right decisions
by reviewing and monitoring Gojo’s overall activities andpolicies from the end clients’ perspective. Specifically, theCommittee works to ensure that clients are at the centre ofcorporate strategy, decision-making, organisational design,and operations.

Our Governance Framework | 43

Table 7 – Board and Committee Composition

Name & Role

Year ofthe first
appointment

Taejun ShinFounder & CEO
Board Chair

2014

Mangyo Kinoshita
Outside Director
Remuneration andTalent Committee Chair

2015*

Masahiro Kotosaka
Outside Director
Audit Committee Chair

2018

Stuart Rutherford
Outside Director
Impact Committee Chair

2019

Royanne Doi
Outside Director
Nomination
Committee Chair

2021

Milena Nikolova
Outside Director

2022

Independent

Committee Composition
Audit

­—

­—

ImpactObserver­—­—: Member: Chair* Mangyo Kinoshita served as Gojo’s Statutory Auditor between June 2015 and Feb 2021.

44 | Gojo Impact Report

Nomination Remuneration
and Talent­—

Observer­—­—Table 8 – Meeting Attendance and Reasons for Selection as Director

Name & Role

Attendance of Board
Meetings in FY2021

Reason for selection as a Director

Taejun ShinFounder & CEO
Board Chair

12/13

Since founding Gojo in July 2014, Taejun has been at the helmof the Gojo Group management, achieving remarkable growth
for the group. As Board Chair and CEO, Gojo anticipates that
Taejun will continue to enable further growth toward thegroup’s vision.

Mangyo Kinoshita
Outside Director
Remuneration andTalent Committee Chair

13/13

Mangyo Kinoshita is an attorney qualified to practise Japanese
law and California law. His expertise in cross-border M&A, joint
venture, strategic alliances, private equity, venture capital deals,
and socially responsible projects at non-profit organisations
and local authorities helps Gojo to ensure our global expansion
is conducted in a socially responsible manner.

Masahiro Kotosaka
Outside Director
Audit Committee Chair

13/13

Masahiro Kotosaka is an expert in internationalisation
strategy and early-stage business development and serves
as an advisor or non-executive director to several start-ups
and multinational companies. He brings a global standardof management excellence to Gojo’s decision-making
and processes.

Stuart Rutherford
Outside Director
Impact Committee Chair

13/13

Stuart Rutherford has extensive knowledge and experience asa researcher, practitioner, teacher, and consultant in financial
services for the poor in Asia and Africa. Stuart brings vivid
insight into the lives of our clients to Gojo’s thinking about
strategy and product development.

Royanne Doi
Outside Director
Nomination
Committee Chair

13/13

Royanne Doi is an experienced ethics and corporate
governance specialist. Royanne brings a focus on our
corporate governance efforts to enable the sustainablegrowth of Gojo.

Milena Nikolova
Outside Director

3/3*

Milena has over 20 years of finance experience spanninginvestment banking, wealth management, venture capital
investing, and startup advisory. Milena adds further financial
and business expertise to take Gojo to the next level.

* The appointment of Milena Nikolova took place in February 2022, and she attended her first official Board meeting as a Board member in
February 2022.

Our Governance Framework | 45

Board evaluation

the governance improved significantly after we

Gojo conducted our first Board self evaluation

moved to the three committee model. However,to review the progress and effectiveness of thethe Board thinks that they should review the

Board. We have conducted a survey with each of

independence of the Directors once again, andthe Directors, followed by an interview with each.

also improve the composition of the Board to add

The results were reviewed and discussed at theexpertise in management of global organisations.

Nomination Committee. So far, we have confirmed

The Board also evaluated the effectiveness ofthat the Board has scored 3.3 out of a rating of 4,each of the committees and also the contribution

indicating that they operate in accordance withof each of the Directors.

expectations. Overall the board is well aligned, andFigure 9 – Results of Gojo’s first Board self-evaluation survey

Overall Score: 3.3(n=6)

Section I: Decision Making
and Monitoring
3.3
4.0
3.0
2.0

Section V: Duties
and Liabilities
3.6

1.0

Section II: Board
Composition
3.1

0.0

Section IV: Working
Procedures
3.3

46 | Gojo Impact Report

Section III: Committees
and Frameworks
3.2

Technology, Research,and Innovation
Digitising financial services for better access

In Q2 2022 we plan to release the full version of

In last year’s impact report we mentioned thethe same app with Sejaya, adding key functionality

development of a Digital Field Applicationsuch as the ability to collect repayments and(DFA), an Android app meant to help the branch

submit new loan applications. That will be a major

personnel of our group companies more easily

milestone for the project, paving the way to many

serve clients in the field. It allows them tomore improvements and optimizations.

replace all of the slow, error-prone, and wastefulpaperwork with a few taps on a mobile device. A

Introducing the Fit Factor — a new impact

loan officer can use it for every step of their day-measureto-day job, from registering clients, to originating

Our R&D team experimented with a new impact

loans, to collecting repayments.

measure called the Fit Factor and published ashort paper on it, which is summarised as follows:

Since the summer of 2021 this effort has started
bearing fruit. Sejaya, our group company in Sri

Typically, when we set out to measure the impact

Lanka, has been running a pilot version of the appof a loan on someone’s life, we tend to look at whatin actual operations for several months, during

happens after they take the loan — for instance,

which we have been tuning and improving thewhether their income increases, whether they areuser experience and, of course, fixing many bugs.

able to spend more on education, or whether they

The pilot DFA is limited to a subset of the planned

acquire more assets. However, there are a couple

functionality, but it already shows promise ofof limitations to this approach:

substantial time savings.
• Outcomes data taken following a loan tends
As of March 2022, more than 12,000 new Sejaya

to be a snapshot of a certain point in time, andclients have been registered through the pilot

is usually collected at a time pre-determinedversion of the DFA. We estimate processing times

by the service provider, rather than at a timefrom client onboarding to first loan disbursementthat makes sense for the borrower in terms ofto have decreased by more than one third on

when they expect to see results from the loan.

average, and by more than three times in somecases. The number of same-day disbursements• Changes in income and increased spending

increased by roughly 17% compared to before theon education can be influenced by many

beginning of the pilot.

different factors in a person’s life, not justTechnology, Research, and Innovation | 47

their access to finance. For instance, we see

We started with this question: instead of assessing

in financial diary research that unexpected

the impact of a financial service by looking at theevents happen more often than we mightoutcomes that follow its delivery, what if we lookthink, such as accidents, sudden medical

at how well the service suited the customer at theneeds, new opportunities, and other events

time it was delivered? We call this the ‘Fit’ between

which may disrupt the original plans aa financial service and a customer’s cash flows,borrower had for their loan.

and introduced the following definition of fitness:

While outcomes data is useful, it cannot give us

A: Volatility (Household Cash Flow Without

the full picture of the utility provided by a loan

the Financial Service)or other financial service. What if, in addition to
outcomes data, we considered the impact of a

B : Volatility (Household Cash Flow Withfinancial service from a cash flow perspective? In

the Financial Service)other words, what if we could see how loans orsavings fit with clients’ real cash flows and affectFormula : (A) - (B)their day-to-day money management?
The Fit aims to measure the extent to which aUsing data from Stuart Rutherford’s Hrishipara

financial service contributes to easier money

Daily Diaries project21, we have introduced a new

management by reducing volatility in net cash

impact measure which looks at how financial

flows. Take the case where a large investment isservices either reduce or add to the volatility of amade in equipment which then generates a series

person’s cash flows. Our working assumption isof positive cash flows:that services which increase cash flow volatility
generally make money harder to manage, and viceversa. We call this measure of impact on volatility
the Fit Factor.

21 https://bit.ly/Hrishipara

48 | Gojo Impact ReportFigure 10 – Cash flow in the case where a large investment in equipment is made1000

Without

800
600
400
200
0
-200
-400

Dec

-1000

Jan

100

Feb

100

Mar

100

Apr

100

May

100

Jun

100

Jul

100

Aug

100

Sep

100

-600

Oct

100

-800

Nov

100

Dec

100

stdev

305

-1000

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

If a loan were to be taken to pay part of the initial

In the full report22, you can find real life examples

investment (Figure 11), with repayments spreadof how microfinance institutions are providing (orequally over the following months, volatility isworsening) Fit.

reduced by a large margin. In other words, it
provides a positive Fit.
Figure 11 – Cash flow in the case where a large investment in equipment is made with the help of a loan
1000

Without With

diff

Dec -1000 -500 -500

800
600

Jan

100

50

50

Feb

100

50

50

400

Mar

100

50

50

200

Apr

100

50

50

May

100

50

50

Jun

100

50

50

0
-200
-400

Jul

100

50

50

Aug

100

50

50

-600

Sep

100

50

50

Oct

100

50

50

-800

Nov

100

50

50

Dec

100

50

50

stdev 305

153

153

-1000

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

22 https://bit.ly/FitFactorReport

Technology, Research, and Innovation | 49

In Conclusion:
2022 and Beyond
The definition of impact at Gojo has evolved

The external environment continues to be fullsignificantly in 2021. When talking about impact,of turmoil. India suffered a huge wave of deaths

we used to always refer to client impact — whatfrom COVID-19 in May 2021, while the coup in

kind of positive changes we were able to create

Myanmar continues to impact the lives of ourin our clients’ lives was the question we always

employees and clients in the country. The conflict

had in mind. However, with the increase inbetween Ukraine and Russia has obviously

ESG investment and the movement towards

impacted our newest group company in Tajikistan

stakeholder capitalism, we started to recognize

although they are handling the situation well. Sriourselves in a larger picture. Client impact still

Lanka experienced a huge economic downturn

continues to be at the centre of impact at Gojo, as

and political instability, resulting in the country

defined in the materiality map. At the same time,announcing debt default. We keep on hearing

we defined a group of stakeholders on whom weconcerning news from Sri Lanka on long power

want to create a positive impact, and have started

cuts due to lack of energy, huge price increases

measuring it so that we can make continuous

on daily necessities, and injuries from clashes

improvements. This year’s impact report is our first

between the people and the army due to politicalattempt at doing so.

confusion. However, the more our people suffer,
the more reason we have to provide high-2022 will be an even more exciting year. At ourquality financial service. Although it is a difficult

board strategy offsite in March 2022, we discussed

time for us — or rather, because it is a difficultand agreed that social performance management,time for everyone — we will continue to standalongside impact, will be one of the top priorities

firm to support our clients and continue being

for Gojo in the coming fiscal year. This means that

responsible to all our stakeholders.

we will focus not just on the outcome we create
on various stakeholders, but the process of how
we create the impact should also be reviewed toensure it is fully compliant with socially acceptedvalues. This requires a full transformation of theorganisation, not just at Gojo but also at each of
the group companies. We have already started
implementing various initiatives and are looking
forward to reporting more next year.

50 | Gojo Impact Report

Sejaya’s clients who joined a centre meeting. A guest from Japan brought umbrellas as souvenirs / Taejun ShinIn Conclusion: 2022 and Beyond | 51

Abbreviations
ALINUS = ALigning INvestors due-diligence and

KPI = key performance indicator

reporting with the Universal Standards

LKR = Sri Lanka Rupees

B2B = business-to-business

MFI = microfinance institution

B2C = business-to-consumer

MP = Managing Partner

CPC = Client Protection Certification

M&A = mergers and acquisitions

CPP = Client Protection Principles

R&D = research and development

CSR = corporate social responsibility

SaaS = software as a service

DFA = Digital Field Application

SDGs = Sustainable Development Goals

DFIs = Development Finance Institutions

SMEs = small and medium-sized enterprises

ESG = Environmental, Social, and Governance

SPI = Social Performance Indicators

FY = Fiscal Year

SPM = Social Performance Management

GEFF = Green Economy Financing Facility

ToC = theory of change

GHG = greenhouse gas

UMICs = upper middle-income countries

HR = Human Resources

USSEPM = Universal Standards of Social and

INR = India Rupees

Environmental Performance Management

IPO = initial public offering

WASH = water, sanitation and hygieneContributors
Gojo Group: Akshay Madan / Albina Kukanbekova / Arisa Oba / Aye Mon Mon Htay / Bansari Buha /Thazin Khaing / Dayan Edirisinghe / Eduardo Ycong Boyose / Haruna Tanaka / Kusum KC /Marco Giancotti / Miyu Tarumi / Monika Chopra / Nurariev Alisher / Rania Manayra / Royanne Doi /Riana Yachi / Ryo Satake / Stuart Rutherford / Taejun Shin / Takao Takahashi / Yoshinari Noguchi
MARUI GROUP: Hiroshi Aoi(President and Representative Director Representative Executive Officer, CEO)
Design: Haruka Yamada
Contact:
Haruna Tanaka
haruna.tanaka@gojo.co
Please reach out if you have feedback on this report or would like tocollaborate with us on impact measurement or SPM.
Gojo & Company, Inc. is headquartered in Japan, at
3-14-5 Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo 151-0051
www.gojo.co© Images: Gojo & Company Inc / MAXIMA Microfinance Plc / Sejaya Micro Credit Ltd /Microfinance Delta International / SATYA MicroCapital / Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth /AVIOM India Housing Finance / Loan Frame Technologies / CSJC MDO Humo
© Gojo & Company, Inc, 2022. All rights reserved.